13/11/2023
What makes Manny Pacquiao such a great fighter?
Manny Pacquiao is considered one of the greatest boxers of all time for several reasons
By: Amaury Fernandez
These are five things what makes Manny Pacquiao a great fighter:
1. FAITH: Having observed Pacquiao for over a decade, I get the impression that his faith in God is such that he not only derives great strength and inspiration from it, but also puts himself in a fearless mental state before each fight where he feels it's not him that's climbing the ring to dish out and take punishment to “make people happy,” as he so eloquently likes to phrase it, but rather a messenger from God who is simply doing his best to carry out his creator’s will. This state of mind can be a handful, to say the least, for any opponent to cope with.
2. TEAM: Pacquiao has one of the best teams in boxing. Freddie Roach, his official trainer, is a future hall-of-famer and is considered to have one of the highest IQs in the sport, Buboy Fernandez his longtime friend and team head coach, Nonoy Neri, Roger Fernandez and Dodong Donaire Sr. his strategist and analyst team coach, Peñalosa Brothers, his supporting team during his traning for counter punch mitt, Steve Jumalon, David Sisson, Choi Acui-Garcia and Joel Lawas are his personal aid and support team for his personal needs and official business transaction, Msgt Carlos Homo now a municipal councilour in Glan Sarangani and Col.Oliver Pauya are both Security Team Leaders, Alex Ariza and Justin Fortune his strength and conditioning coach, they are now beginning to prove their worth with other high profile clients, and their promoter, Bob Arum, is arguably the greatest boxing promoter of all-time and has promoted the likes of George Foreman, Sugar Ray Leonard, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Oscar De La Hoya, and Muhammad Ali.
3. NATURAL ABILITY: Pacquiao is blessed with a rare blend of speed and power. To boot, he's a southpaw with outstanding durability (good chin and stamina). What Pacquiao may lack in God-given ring smarts, he makes up for with improving ring intelligence over the years. Many people may plateau after a few years in their chosen field, but Pacquiao is in his early to mid thirties (not young for a fighter) and is still showing wrinkles of improvement. Pacquiao and Freddie Roach’s work in making Pacquiao a complete fighter should not be underestimated. Pacman started off as a face-first slugger with no right hand of consequence, and has now become a complete, two-fisted, versatile fighting machine.
4. INITIATIVE: Sometimes the difference between the genius that the world ends up finding out about and the one who labors is obscurity can be traced down to the concept of initiative (making things happen). Pacquiao doesn’t wait for things to happen, he doesn’t wait for the circumstances to be perfect before he makes his move; he just does it, as proven by his punch output and propensity to set the tone and get off first in almost all of his fights. Pacquiao’s aggressive and relentless determination is one of the things that make him special. He has a heart and will as strong as anyone who has stepped into the ring, as evidenced by the challenges he’s faced, his performances, the opponents he’s beaten, and the rest of his ring accomplishments.
5. HARD WORK AND DISCIPLINE: Those who have seen Pacquiao train and know him personally attest to his legendary work ethic. They describe him as a machine that pushes his body and mind to the limits of exhaustion, while seemingly relishing the pain and sacrifice that come with being the best in the world at what you do.
(Revised from the original owned article post)
